as I'm learning to see

Rocky for the Day

I used to ride my elliptical machine for an hour every other morning. Since all the problems with my knees started I haven’t been able to ride it at all. After visiting the physical therapist yesterday he finally gave me the all clear to try it as long as I took it easy and put the height to a position that doesn’t hurt my knees. I decided that today I wanted to try to ride it for just ten minutes.

The elliptical machine is in the basement of my house so just getting to it is very interesting. I can’t go down stairs very well yet and getting back up is a whole new ball game that I will cover farther down in this blog.

Here is the down trip: First of all I need both hands to help me go down and I have to go one leg on a step then bring the other leg to that step and also I have to be standing sideways. I also needed to take water down with me and I decided that I would take a few extra bottles with me to leave down for next time. Needing both hands to hold on as I went down the steps I had to find a way to get my stuff down the stairs too. I decided it would be best to toss each bottle of water down the steps instead of trying to carry them down. My cats who are always all up in my business noticed me heading for the basement and were all the sudden excited that something new was happening in our house this morning. Anything new is an exciting day for the two of them, so I should have known that what was about to happen would happen. Just as the first bottle left my hand Bart decided he would race me to the bottom of the stairs and he managed to dive right in front of the bottle of water that had just left my hand. I am not sure how he was able to avoid getting bowled over by the flying water bottle but somehow he did. Upon seeing Bart’s near miss Mr. KB decided he would like to give it a try himself so just as I carefully tossed the other two bottles down he made a mad dash to dive right in front of the bottles and managed to get nipped just a tiny bit. The hit was not enough to hurt him physically but his pride was hurt so much that he sat at the bottom of the stairs and glared at me as I began my descent. If looks could kill I would be a dead woman right now and you would not be reading this blog post. I also had my phone tucked into the waist band of my shorts because I had decided that just in case I fell down the steps or could not get back up I would maybe need a way to call someone to come save me. About half way down the phone slipped out of my waistband and dropped right on top of my foot…ouch…and then bounced down the steps and you guessed it right at Mr. KB who was still not over the water bottle incident. He ran back up the stairs just about bowling me over and as far as he was concerned this adventure was over!

After what seemed like forever I was finally at the bottom of the steps and ready to tackle the elliptical but then I soon discovered another obstacle that I had not planned on. I had to figure out how to get on the machine. Since my surgeries I cannot step up a steps without a railing because my legs muscles are not strong enough and the physical therapist has been helping me strengthen my leg muscles. He has finally gotten me up to a two inch step and but here I was looking at the elliptical which had about eight inches from the floor to the foot pads. This was something I had really never noticed before today and after a few fails I did finally did have a win and manage to get on the machine. As you know, the goal was to ride for ten minutes. During those ten minutes other than I kept pushing the height button on the ramp, up and down and up and down until I found a comfortable place to ride that did not hurt my knees, the rest of the ride was uneventful and I am happy to say I finished the ten minute goal! YAY!

I know ten minutes does not seem like a huge goal and I would’ve been very disappointed in myself for only making ten minutes on the elliptical machine a year ago, but today ten minutes was huge and boy was I sweating! Excited I started to get off the elliptical and then I realized there was another obstacle I had not planned on… now I had to figure out how to get off the machine, this was a very interesting problem. Every time I would try to get off the machine it would almost tip over and I could not just step off. I finally figured it out though and my ten minute workout which was now up to about 30 minutes (thanks to step descending and cat bowling) was complete.

It was now time to go back up those stairs! Me climbing stairs is an interesting sight to see. I pulled myself up with my arms holding on to the railing and when I reached the halfway mark there is a ledge opposite of the railing and with that I was able finish using the rail in one hand and pushing of the ledge with my other. When I reached the top I raised my arms in the air just like Rocky and said, “YES!” Who would have ever thought something that I never ever really thought about would be so hard and yet bring me so much happiness to complete??! 🙂

My happiness was short lived because at that moment I realized I had left my phone in the basement. Ohhhh noooo! By this time I was exhausted and thought if I go down those steps again I will never get back up a second time! I know I sound like I’m exaggerating but that staircase that I used to fly up and down no-handed, now feels like going up ten floors.

I looked down the stairs; “I can’t do this again!” but a voice in my head said, “oh yes you CAN!” and then all the sudden something inside of me changed. I don’t know that I really wanted the phone as bad as I just wanted to be able to climb those stairs again, so I went for it! I went down the stairs, got the phone and then one more time reached the top and this time I wanted to do the victory dance and jump up and down thing Rocky does once again 🙂 (watch the video at the beginning if you don’t know what I am talking about).

It amazes me what a person can be thankful for when you look at your life from a totally different perspective. Today I’m thankful for the ability to climb a staircase…wow. Today I had to overcome a lot of obstacles just to get what I thought was going to be one small thing accomplished. That is how life is though… always filled with a lot of obstacles. The obstacles I faced today were nothing I ever even paid attention to or considered obstacles at all a year ago. That just goes to show that a person just never ever knows where they will be in life. The small stuff may become big stuff and the stuff that used to seem really small can become really big. (Did that even make sense?) 🙂

When stuff gets tough a person has two choices. Either chose to sit back and not try or tackle the harder choice. Sometimes the harder choice may not go so well but at least we can know that we tried. To me it just seems like it would be sad to never know just how much could have been accomplished had we tried, than to have never tried at all. Even if we try and fail it’s really a win because at least we gave it a shot. I can never ever give up not matter what.

Every single day since all this stuff started with my knees I have I asked God to give me the strength and the courage to push through the pain, the strength to persevere through the weakness and to stand up tall and be strong in whatever obstacle comes my way. I can’t say that every day I do all those things, but on the days like today that I do, I find that He gave me exactly what I needed to win. Life can be really really hard sometimes but if life were always easy I think I would never know what was like to strive for things or to want to do better. If life were easy I would never be thankful for something that I used to think was pretty small and I would never have realized that those every day ordinary things are really very huge and should never be taken for granted.

I know it sounds as if I am bragging today and yes I am, but is not me I am bragging on. The One I am bragging on is my God because without him none of this stuff I wrote about today would ever be possible and I feel so blessed and thankful that he loves me so much that he pushes me to try harder and then helps me to do it.

In closing I would like to say if you think that the obstacles of your life have gotten in the way so much that you have been knocked down so many times that this time you feel so far down that you don’t think you can ever get back up again, call on Jesus ask him to give you the strength you need. He will help you get back up and he will help you persevere through whatever it is.

Jesus looked at them and said, “With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.” Matthew 19:26

Interesting post the obstacles in my life are impossible, too much has been thrown at me a person can only take so much one obstacle maybe several all at once and too big too overcome, impossible too much trauma heartache

T this woman is Muslim, when I clicked on her name angelajking it took me to my WordPress .com and those I follow, so be careful, she has a fashion website where she promotes Allah, she may or may not be in trouble but it’s all a bit strange.

Angela, I am so sorry to hear this. I am not sure quite how to respond because I do not know your circumstances but what I do know is how I have seen God help me in my own daily life and those around me. He never said we would not have trouble in this life but if we ask he will help us and be with us to help us through during our times of trouble. though many of our obstacles are to big for us to overcome they are not to big for God. He gave us many promises in the Bible to help in these times… This is one that I turn to a lot (Philippians 4:6-7 – Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. ) I will pray for you and that you God will give you the strength you need to get through whatever you are going through and to help you to heal and have peace.

Well done T and I agree we never give up whatever the task or problem… I understand well about curious on lookers, I have fallen over a few times on the kitchen floor and the M and M’s my furry friends decided since I was on their level it was time to play, have you even tried to get up off the floor when being licked excitedly by two critters in your lap, who don’t know what the words mean …. Stop that’s enough!

Thank you Anne. I loved the story of your M and M’s I know its not funny you fell down but so cute that they wanted to play, and I know they love you so much. I liked your last line ‘Just like babies we crawl first, toddle a little, walk, than run’ good words to remember and thanks.

Firstly tthanks for yoyr prayers, secondly to the lady who wrote the above comments you should really get your facts straight before making rash judgements and discriminating, I am not a muslim and am not promoting allah you silly woman how many muslims do you know with a surname of king, I am britsh, if you looked at my blog properly you would have seen the verses of scripture that are on it, it is a fashion blog that incorporates the bible and looks at the future of fashion and christianity, as for my circumstances I have been through some horrific things mostly because of my faith which I am not able to share, how dare you, and how dare you claim to know god.

Sorry Angela but WordPress gave me this woman’s name when I clicked on your name and also than redirected me to those I follow on WordPress .com they did the same with T so I put the name of this woman they gave me into my search engine and believed it was your Blog, it may have been my mistake but it was a fashion Blog too with verses and quotes on it but as I said to T, I was not sure because it is strange that a Muslim would seek advice from those who they are taught are inferer . I was warning her that something did not add up. I believed T was going to delete my comment but she must have not received my e-mail before she went to bed.

I never discriminate against anyone, we are all people of worth or Jesus would not have died for us but I hate the wrong some do and say and if needed I will warn them, it is not Love to see someone in Satan’s Trap and look the other way but I do so with Love even if direct at times .

As for your name, so many who Blog make up false ones and if they start another one they often make up another one , so who knows where they come from.

All I can say to your Angela is I’m sorry for the mix-up and to please fix up your name link, so others don’t make the same mistake.

I am also very sorry Angela to hear about the problems you have had and are experiencing, it was why I clicked on your name, I was going to seek to encourage you with some Scripture God gave me during my Storms, I will leave them below for you and I will also be praying for you.

Isaiah 43:1-3 – Do not be afraid, for I have ransomed you. I have called you by name; you are mine. When you go through deep waters and great trouble, I will be with you. When you go through rivers of difficulty, you will not drown! When you walk through the fire of oppression, you will not be burned up; the flames will not consume you. For I am the LORD, your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Saviour.”

Jeremiah 29 :11-12 For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the LORD, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope.

Lamentations 3: 33 For God doth not afflict willingly nor grieve the children of men.

Connect

Welcome!

Thank you so much for stopping by! This blog isn't really about any exact thing, other than just me journeying through my daily life and my love for Jesus. You may find pictures, poems or recipes, and a whole lot of lessons I've learned along the way. I really appreciate your visit and I hope that you will find something to make your visit worth your while and hopefully somehow make your day a little brighter.

Archives

On my heart

About the Author

Wife, mom, grandma, blogger... hmmm?? I'm not so sure about that but I try :) I love sunrises, sunsets, and the ocean. I'm a cloud watcher and love to just sit and listen to the sounds of nature. I also love poetry and reading. But most of all I love Jesus because since I found Him life is so much more than I could have ever imagined!.

The Day Rose stole my Heart

You can click this picture and read about the day Rose chose me to be her sponsor

The Day We Met

Read my story about the day I met Thierry - The Best Day Ever - March 8, 2013